CIVILETTI, BENJAMIN RICHARD

CIVILETTI, BENJAMIN RICHARD

Benjamin Richard Civiletti served as U.S. attorney general from 1979 to 1981 under President JIMMY CARTER. His leadership helped the JUSTICE DEPARTMENT regain public credibility in the years following the WATERGATE scandal.
Civiletti was born July 17, 1935, in Peekskill,
New York. He received a bachelor of arts degree
from Johns Hopkins University in 1957 and a
law degree from the University of Maryland in
1961. He served from 1961 to 1962 as clerk to
William Calvin Chesnut, a U.S. district judge for
Maryland. From 1962 to 1964, he worked as
assistant U.S. attorney in Baltimore.
Civiletti then turned to private practice with
the prestigious Baltimore law firm of Venable,
Baetjer, and Howard. His skill as a trial attorney
enabled him to rise quickly in the firm. He
became a partner in 1969 and headed the litigation
department two years later. He also became
highly active on various professional committees
in Baltimore and Maryland, including the
Character Committee of the Court of Appeals of
Maryland (1970–76), the Mayor’s Commission
to Investigate Baltimore City Jails (1972–73), the
Judiciary Committee of the Bar Association of
Baltimore (1972–75), and the Maryland state
legislature’s Task Force on Crime (1975–76).
Civiletti’s reputation as an outstanding
lawyer and civic leader attracted the notice of
officials in President Carter’s administration. In
1977, the Carter administration appointed
Civiletti assistant attorney general in charge of
the Criminal Division of the Justice Department.
He oversaw a number of sensitive cases in
the Criminal Division, including the investigation
of Bert Lance, a friend of Carter’s who
resigned as director of the OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT
AND BUDGET in September 1977 after
being questioned by the Senate about alleged
violations of banking laws. Civiletti also dealt
with a scandal involving alleged attempts by
South Korean government officials to buy influence
from members of Congress and from other
U.S. government officials.
In late 1977, the Carter administration nominated
Civiletti as deputy attorney general. He
was finally appointed to the post in January
1978. As deputy attorney general, Civiletti
received widespread praise for his coordination of an interagency campaign against WHITE-COLLAR
CRIME.
Civiletti’s rapid rise through the ranks of the
Justice Department culminated in his appointment,
in 1979, as U.S. attorney general. His
appointment came after President Carter
requested the resignation of top cabinet officials
in an attempt to improve the functioning of his
administration. The previous attorney general,
GRIFFIN B. BELL, had strongly recommended
Civiletti to be his replacement. The Senate
approved Civiletti’s appointment on August 1,
1979, by a vote of 94–1.
As attorney general, Civiletti continued policies
initiated by Bell: a restructuring of the
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION so that it
might better investigate white-collar crime;
recodification of CRIMINAL LAW statutes;
increased pursuit of antitrust cases; and
improvement of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service. In addition, Civiletti continued
his earlier work to improve cooperation between
different law enforcement divisions of the federal
government.
Civiletti was also forced to respond to international
events during his tenure as attorney
general.After U.S. citizens were seized at the U.S.
Embassy in Tehran in 1979, Civiletti directed the
Justice Department’s efforts to deport Iranians
who had entered the United States illegally.
Civiletti also traveled to the INTERNATIONAL
COURT OF JUSTICE at The Hague, and persuaded
its judges to rule in favor of the United States
and denounce the Iranian capture of the U.S.
embassy.
After RONALD REAGAN took office as president
in 1981, Civiletti returned to private practice
at the Venable law firm. He founded the
Maryland LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION and
was the original director of the National Institute
against Prejudice and Violence. In 1992,
Civiletti became the director and vice president
of the American Judicature Society, and in 1993,
he was named chairman of the Maryland Governor’s
Commission on Welfare Policy. Civiletti
has served as a trustee of Johns Hopkins University
and has received honorary doctorates of law
from the University of Baltimore, Tulane University,
Saint John’s University, the University of
Notre Dame, and the University of Maryland.
In 1999, Civiletti testified before a House
Judiciary Subcommittee in opposition to the reauthorization of the Independent Counsel
Act. The act authorized a three-judge panel to
appoint a special prosecutor to investigate
alleged illegal actions by government officials. It
drew criticism for granting these prosecutors
too much power without any effective oversight
from the executive or judicial branches of government.
In August 2001, Civiletti was sworn in
as the second member of the Independent
Review Board, a quasi-governmental agency
that was created by court order to monitor the
activities of the Teamsters Union.
In the early 2000s, Civiletti continued his
work in private practice where he focused on litigation
and antitrust issues as well as white collar-
crime, corporate governance, government
regulation, and health law. He also built a practice
in ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION.
Civiletti continued to sit on numerous boards,
committees, councils and task forces. He also
published extensively and maintained a steady
schedule of speaking engagements.

FURTHER READINGS
Baker, Nancy V. 1992. Conflicting Loyalties: Law and Politics
in the Attorney General’s Office, 1789–1990. Lawrence:
Univ. Press of Kansas.
“Independent Review Board.” Teamsters Union. Available
online at (accessed
June 17, 2003).
“Profiles in Power: The 1994 Power List: An Overview of the
Outstanding Members of the Legal Profession.” 1994.
National Law Journal (April 4).
Venable, Baetjer, and Howard Venable. “Civiletti, Benjamin
R.” Baltimore.West’s Legal Directory,WestLaw.